Police launched a crackdown on bookies, bingo hall or casino robberies in the run up to Christmas.

Posters and leaflets will be distributed to every betting shop, amusement arcade and bingo hall in the city as part of the operation.

Staff will be educated on how to report suspicious behaviour and ensure they have maximum security measures in place.

The campaign, called ‘Robbery – Odds on you’ll get caught’, was launched by betting shop operators and Merseyside Police today.

It contains a new initiative called ‘Gamble Watch’, where police and gambling outlets work together to prevent business robberies and share information about crooks.

Superintendent Jenny Sims, who is leading the police’s response to retail crime, said betting shops, convenience stores and off-licences were not the easy targets that criminals thought they were.

She said: “Criminals who target bookmakers are facing increasingly lengthy prison sentences for very little reward indeed. The betting industry and police in Merseyside work very closely together to ensure only the bare minimum amounts of cash are accessible at the premises and security measures are always used.

“However the offenders who do chance their arm and try to commit a robbery will face in the region of five or even ten years in prison when they get caught so my question to them would be: is it really worth it because the odds are you will get caught.”

The force has teamed up with all the large bookmakers in the county to launch ‘Gamble Watch’ where information about anything from the latest security measures to how staff can better identify suspicious behaviour in their shops is shared and acted on.

Supt Sims added: “Business robberies are not victimless crimes. Many of our bookmakers are run by local people who just want to earn a living and provide for their families.

“The person serving behind the counter could be someone’s mum, sister or grandmother yet these criminals think nothing of pointing a gun at them and screaming at them to open the till or safe.

“Some of these people will be left permanently traumatised by such an incident so it is important that we keep working with the betting industry and the local communities where these criminals hide to continue to reduce the number of robberies here on Merseyside.”

Representatives from The Association of British Bookmakers, the Gambling Commision and several high street bookmakers attended the event.